The Seven Cities of Delhi
twelve thousand, but the contingents of the native states were very poorly armed indeed.
On the night of the 6th the "Sammy-house " battery was armed, and on the night of the 7th, while the guns on the Ridge opened fire to draw off the enemy's attention, the first siege-battery was traced, and constructed in two parts. There was little soil to be scraped on the spot, so sand-bags had been filled in readiness and kept close by; earth also was brought from the ravine and filled into gabions. Hundreds of camels were used to bring down the gabions and fascines of brushwood, and considering the confusion and the noise caused by these unwieldy animals, all mixed up in a mass with teams of bullocks bringing down the guns and cartloads of ammunition, it was marvellous that so much work was done that night, still more wonderful that the enemy did not hear the noise and open a devastating fire. However, they did not do more than send across a few rounds of grape until the morning, when they quickly awoke to the situation, and did not spare the scarcely completed and very partially armed batteries. During the night our men had been fortunate enough to be able to occupy the Kudsia Bagh and Ludlow Castle without any opposition.
The morning of the 8th found the new286
